Will MS have two different performance SKUs next-gen? *spawn
- Thread starter Squilliam
- Start date
I still haven't heard a good case for a 3rd sku. Xbox tv doesn't make sense if it isn't using Durango hardware or xbox 360 hardware.
The xbox 360's rumored shrink should be enough to get it to $100 bucks or lower. Why have an xbox 360 at $100 ish then an xbox tv at $100 or so and then a Durango .
The xbox 360's rumored shrink should be enough to get it to $100 bucks or lower. Why have an xbox 360 at $100 ish then an xbox tv at $100 or so and then a Durango .
(((interference)))
Veteran
Different markets, Xbox 361 is primarily for people who want to play games while Xbox TV is primarily for people who want a set top box and are crosshopping against Apple TV and Roku etc - might also work as an extender for a Durango base console so you can play your Durango games in different rooms.
Xbox 361 can't run Windows 8 apps and games and isn't always on, so has limited use as a set top box.
Xbox 361 can't run Windows 8 apps and games and isn't always on, so has limited use as a set top box.
(((interference)))
Veteran
Durango doesn't have back compat so that won't work.
And Xbox 361 might be more expensive than Xbox TV, say $149 vs $99.
And Xbox 361 might be more expensive than Xbox TV, say $149 vs $99.
I also wonder what the size of Xbox TV would be. In this day and age, people don't need yet another box that can play DVDs, and ideally you'd want something Apple TV/Roku sized with similar power requirements so its basically always on (in the good way, oy) and sleeps when not in use. You could even see it acting as a 2nd receiver for a streaming game that doesn't rely on Kinect so you can play on another room.
What if the Xbox TV is an accessory device for Durango or 360? Basically a terminal to access your 360 or Durango from all the TVs in your house. It could just be like that Game Stick Android device where it plugs right into your HDMI port. It would need to be super cheap, maybe around $50. But it could also be used without a 360 or Durango. I think it will also come with a paid subscription for the services. No Gold needed.
Tommy McClain
Tommy McClain
That is indeed no different than for Apple or Google offereing, though whereas I can see the need for MSFT to align a product on that segment, I fail to see how it could achieve significant sales, should at a fraction of Apple and Google sales.
Pardon my French but I don't get what you mean? By the 720 you mean Durango, right?
I don't get how that is relevant to either an Xbox TV or a revamp 360.
I agree, without game the xbox name is irrelevant and MSFT needs that edge (vs Google, Apple).
Well here I disagree, the 360 is an old design with many shortcoming.
Say MSFT were to position the 360 as a competitor to Apple & Google TV (on top of its advance capabilities) and deal with the software side so Metro Apps runs on the system, the system faces significant issues I pointed earlier:
I would say power is too high even with a shrink.
Power get even more bothering when it comes to media operations, the system offers no serious.
power management features.
No proper hardware decoding (and the matching impact on power consumption).
The system need more RAM.
The could revamp the system security.
HDD is costly, DVD capacity is maxed (has been for a while BF3 is a poster child for the limitation it set) => imo they need to move to what Sony is doing on the ps3 BRD + partial instal.
HDD is costly, burns power => Flash storage.
If MSFT is serious in leveraging games and 360 BC to make a dent in the Smart tv/devices market, they will keep the system around for a while, Mobile SoCs are to match and exceed the ps360 performances sooner than latter, imo in the long run bumping the perfs might help against the competition (and possible easing the port from the next gen systems).
Either way they just keep the 360 has it, I'm not sure a shrink is to save them much money looking at wafer price, they may not want a too tiny chip either as the amount of Watts per mm^2 to dissipate may end up pretty high, etc.
Overall the 360 is 7 years old already, I guess the 'best' thing to do is to let it lives whatever amount of life is left to it, though I don't see part of a 2 SKU strategy without significant changes.
I do not believe that reaching 99$, redesign or shrink, is an easy target, be it the Wii, Apple or Google Tv there significantly less in those box (/Apple uses salvaged chips, etc.), there is less hardware in the Wii than in modern BRD player selling for the same price, etc.
I think that's the general idea. A lot of the 360 media apps are already far better than what the Roku has in terms of high quality content with depth.
if a considerable percentage of 360's current title base already has a PC analog... why use BC?
That was the point of my original statement. There may be a few marquee titles which require a non trivial port and may not be worth the expenditure or the dev house may not exist. But for the others since theres a PC version already available place it on 720 with little effort is a solution. BC isn't a good solution.
People expect those games to play on Xbox Live online.
Irrelevant...artificial limit is software not hardware...it could be changed. They're just greedy and want people to buy consoles with built-in hardrives that can't be user upgraded like PS3...oh wait PS3 is also 7 years newer...*facepalm*
Wanna make a bet that Xbox720 can use unlimited external storage? Or how about upgradable hardrives?
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Microsoft already lifted the limit to 32GB. But yeah... i dont understand why they put the limit at all.
and it will be an inconvinience if the next xbox have that artificial limit again.
Doesn't matter if they increased it to 64GB..it's still an artificial limit. That's just so they could say..."yeah you could use external storage with our console just like the competition" in their marketing...it's not a genuine consumer satisfaction move. Lets be honest here, they undoubtedly want you to buy new equipment if you want that bigger hardrive. They also want you to buy their overpriced "proprietary" hard drive upgrades that are still limited to specific sizes. Why the hell won't they allow consumers to buy their own 1TB or 2TB hard drives for use with the console? The answer is they obviously don't make any money if you don't buy their drives!
Obviously you've thought it through. Maybe it's not money, but technical? Maybe they require a certain speed & throughput? I know they did early on when they first supported USB thumb drives. They even released their own branded Sandisk drives that met their requirements. Also, maybe it's also about support? They may not want to try to support every USB device out there. This is a Xbox not a PC. Maybe it's also about providing customers something simple & easy to use, a no headaches system? Yes, at the expense of having more standard options. I think it's clear that Microsoft didn't want to go the PC route for the Xbox accessory support. It wasn't just because of money. It's just something different than the competition. Is it the right way or the best way? No, it's not for everybody. Good thing there are other companies that provide you with a choice. If you don't like Microsoft's way, then I'm sorry, but it doesn't sound like it's for you.
Tommy McClain
Tommy McClain
It's a friggen USB port dude...not exactly rocket science. Also what the hell does transfer rates have anything to do with capacity?? Are you telling me that the WiiU is running a PC OS since it supports unlimited storage??? SONY is definitely doing it right...have a SSD? Sure no problem it'll work and boost load times tremendously.
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OK, so it's clearly a money thing. Thanks for the clarification.
Remember the USB support that was added Spring 2010 was to replace their proprietary memory card support. They had already supported USB mass storage before, but only reading music & video files, not game saves or other game content. Anyway that's why the USB support was initially limited to 16gb. Plus, they never guaranteed support for USB hard drives for memory card replacement. Here's the deal regarding USB speed/transfer rates from Eurogamer...
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/xbox-360-storage-update-the-flash-factor-article
Just remember that they have to limit USB bandwidth due to having to support wired USB controllers & WiFi adapter. This is another reason why Kinect wasn't able to work to its fullest either.
Tommy McClain
Remember the USB support that was added Spring 2010 was to replace their proprietary memory card support. They had already supported USB mass storage before, but only reading music & video files, not game saves or other game content. Anyway that's why the USB support was initially limited to 16gb. Plus, they never guaranteed support for USB hard drives for memory card replacement. Here's the deal regarding USB speed/transfer rates from Eurogamer...
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/xbox-360-storage-update-the-flash-factor-article
Just remember that they have to limit USB bandwidth due to having to support wired USB controllers & WiFi adapter. This is another reason why Kinect wasn't able to work to its fullest either.
Tommy McClain